Chapter Two: Tea Parties Are Always Savage
“PRINCE EVAN, could I ask you to be my escort to the banquet this evening?”
There was going to be a party that evening to welcome the guests from Rienbul. We told the three guests to rest in their rooms until then and went to leave, but then…Aisha jumped in with that request.
“Miss Aisha Alaban, I was under the impression your brother would be your escort,” said Evan.
“Oh, that doesn’t matter. I’d prefer you, Prince Evan.”
Evan parried her request with a smile and an indirect refusal that really said, “Know your place. You’re not royalty; you’re a girl of a viscount’s house.”
But, for some reason, Aisha swayed her hips and looked up at him through her lashes. “You don’t mind, do you, Lady Selena?”
“Why are you asking me? I have no say in what Evan decides.”
“Really? I’m happy you have such a kind heart, Lady Selena. I think we could be friends.”
Aisha never heard me say, “You must be joking. I’d never be friends with a moron like you,” because Tiegel clamped his hand over my mouth.
How dare she call this blatant hostility “friends.” I don’t know the right word for it, but I at least know it doesn’t fall into common sense.
“Miss Aisha, I cannot be your escort,” said Evan.
“Your Highness, call me Aisha, please. And may I call you by your name?” She moved over to his side and tried to touch him.
He guessed what she was doing and casually stepped away. “I apologize, but I have my status as a royal. It would be best for both of us to keep an appropriate distance to avoid giving the wrong impression.”
“…I see.” Aisha gave up then on getting Evan as her escort, perhaps because she was trying to avoid him disliking her for coming on too strong. But she seemed the type of girl to turn a profit even from a failure because she suggested, “Why don’t we have tea together to learn more about each other’s countries?”
Evan gave in and agreed to that suggestion, probably because they were state guests from a friendly nation. It would be bad to destroy our relationship with them by refusing everything outright.
When all is said and done, while I might not have any real interest in Evan, I have spent a long time with him, which means I can tell a lot from his expression.
For example, right now, he has on that smile the ladies love, but he’s doing everything in his power to hold back a sigh and scowl as he deals with her. He’s tired because he chose to put on the mask of a normal person and put in all this time and effort. If he’d just killed them like I suggested, he wouldn’t have to deal with this pain in the rear assignment. You reap what you sow, Evan.
And I should make my getaway to my room before I get dragged into something annoying, too.
Aisha doesn’t seem to think highly of me either because she keeps throwing a hostile aura at me every now and then. She doesn’t seem to think Evan’s noticed, but he sees right through her. What a stupid girl.
“Selena, you too,” said Evan, snapping his hand onto my shoulder the moment I stood to go to my room.
“You two enjoy yourselves. The two of you,” I insisted.
“Oh, don’t be like that, Selena. As a lady, you’re the one who will be interacting the most with Miss Aisha. You need to strengthen your relationship with her.”
His eyes told me there was no way he was letting me escape.
“Don’t drag me into this mess. Fix it yourself,” I said to him with just a glare.
“Impossible. I hate dealing with people who won’t listen like her. You’re better at it. You had a sister who was like that,” his eyes said back.
“Only if I can do the same thing to Aisha I did to my sister.”
“What did you do to your sister?!”
“……”
“No. Even if they are just guests. They’re honored guests invited from another country.”
While Evan and I conversed silently with eye signals, Aisha stared at Evan in awe.
“Lady Selena,” whispered Tiegel. “It’s your duty. Lady Aisha is more likely to cause a problem if you’re there. Wouldn’t it be better to actively engage with her to help things move along more quickly so you can send them back to their own country?”
He didn’t often step in like that, but it seemed he’d guessed what my silent conversation with Evan was about.
“Exactly. You’re right. You put it perfectly, Tiegel,” Evan whispered back happily.
The two of them normally just get in each other’s way or bicker, but they collude against me at a time like this? I do not get their relationship. It seems good sometimes and bad other times.
“I don’t know what I’ll do if things go too far,” I stated.
“Is that a threat?” asked Evan.
“We’ll see.” I smiled while Evan looked at me with a grimace.
And yet, Aisha somehow interpreted that as me trying to woo Evan because she locked a cold glare on me. Not that it scared me.
Oh, this is such a pain.